Ancient Law Spotlight: Lycurgus

In modern times, Sparta is mostly known for their highly militaristic culture. However, they were actually also responsible for a lot of major achievements in the fields of politics and philosophy. One of the most fascinating politicians of Spartan times was Lycurgus.

Many ancient historians and philosophers, like Herodotus, Plutarch, and Plato, have discussed Lycurgus’ life. According to these sources, Lycurgus was a Spartan who lived somewhere during the tenth to ninth century BCE in Sparta. Initially a brother of the king of Sparta, Lycurgus was installed as the regent to his infant nephew when his brother passed away. To avoid accusations of trying to take the throne for himself, Lycurgus gave up a lot of his authority and instead chose to travel.

Eventually, the young Spartan king called Lycurgus back to Sparta because they felt that his wisdom and natural understanding of politics would help them to better maintain power. Lycurgus started by instituting a special council made up of 28 men. This council of commoners would have the same rights as the two royal houses of Sparta, allowing a sort of democracy to develop.

Lycurgus also redistributed some land to better balance wealth in the population and created a type of coin not reliant on foreign economies. Furthermore, he was responsible for setting up many of the military traditions of Sparta. Part of Lycurgus’ reforms including a requirement for all males over the age of seven to be educated. He also instituted communal meals for Spartan soldiers, so they could learn to rely on each other for food and companionship.

Lycurgus is a hotly contested citizen of ancient Sparta. Despite the many ancient Greek sources mentioning him, modern historians are not actually certain if he existed or not. There are some people who feel like Lycurgus is essentially a legend meant to describe how many of Sparta’s key institutions developed. Others believe Lycurgus helped institute the commoner’s council of Sparta following a helot revolution, but they think others might have been responsible for the economic and military reforms. Whether or not a single person was truly responsible for all of these reforms, it is true that these political concepts greatly influenced the Spartan way of life for centuries to come.